


The beginning of the rest of our lives

by hellcsweetie



Category: Suits (US TV)
Genre: 9x10 prediction, F/M, but not really just one way I think their story could go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-30 11:24:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20771159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellcsweetie/pseuds/hellcsweetie
Summary: He can hear the door opening and he suspects he knows who it is, but he doesn’t look.





	The beginning of the rest of our lives

**Author's Note:**

> So I’m posting this on the day of the very last episode of Suits. This is not meant as a prediction because I hope this is not how it goes, haha, but I’ll only find out how wrong (or right) I was on Friday when I watch the episode. Hope you enjoy :)

Harvey’s standing by the ledge, hands in his pockets as he watches the buzz of the city below them. It’s the beginning of the end of the regular business day and everyone who doesn’t have his kind of schedule is starting to pack up and go home. The autumn chill is setting in, but not yet too cold to make being up here uncomfortable. He likes fall now. He likes the change. 

He can hear the door opening and he suspects he knows who it is, but he doesn’t look. 

“Figured I’d find you here,” Donna comments casually as she joins him, equally staring down at the streets. He chuckles a little, “I figured you would.”

She doesn’t say anything at first but he knows it won’t last. He stands his ground, though. It’s not a conversation he feels like he can start. 

“So I guess that letter is right, then?” she finally concedes with a sigh. Harvey just nods. “Harvey, don’t do this,” she pleads, facing him, “Faye’s leaving and we’ll make sure she doesn’t come back. Everything’s gonna be back to normal soon, we just have to wait a little bit longer.” She’s not usually like this, which goes to show that she’s actually worried about him leaving. 

He’s touched. And sad. And relieved. 

“It’s not just about Faye, Donna,” he looks down, gathers his thoughts, “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from everything that’s been happening these past few months - these past few years, really - it’s that this place isn’t everything anymore.”

“You’re frustated. And I get it, you’ve been through so much so fast and things have been really shitty around here lately. But this is your life’s work. Don’t let them take it from you,” she insists. 

A little sad smile pulls at his lips. “But that’s just it, isn’t it? This _is_ my life’s work. And I’m proud of it, but I don’t wanna look back at my life and see only this anymore. I fought so hard to get here because I thought it was all that mattered but now whenever I see my name on that wall, all I can think about is the weight of that responsibility. I got to the top, but the view isn’t that pretty, and it’s lonely.”

“We’re all there with you, Harvey,” Donna tries, but he can hear it turn half-hearted. She’s starting to get it. 

“Maybe. But it doesn’t make it easier seeing your best friend go to jail in your place, or watching so many people lose everything because of you. It doesn’t make it easier living in fear of losing the person you love most in the world,” here he looks at her because it’s the least he can do.

She sighs, regards him for a moment. “So you really wanna go?” Her voice is pensive, but she looks resigned.

“I really wanna go,” Harvey nods. He does. He never thought he would - he used to think he’d have to be dragged out of this place. But somehow it feels like it’s time. Things are changing and he feels it best to change with them. 

“I wanna be able to spend more time with my brother and the kids. I wanna go to Seattle and Chicago more. I wanna be there for Oscar growing up and I wanna be able to live my life without having to look over my shoulder with every goddamn step I take,” he chuckles breathily because now, in the aftermath, he doesn’t really understand how he managed to put up with it for so long. 

Something in her shifts and her face shifts with it, eyes gazing intensely at him as she comes closer, a little smile tugging at her lips. She takes his face in her hands and holds him in place. “I’m proud of you. But I am gonna miss you, though,” she adds and her smile turns wistful. 

“Me too,” he agrees softly because he’s gonna miss it all, the meetings, the clients, the craziness and the fast pace. Louis and Alex and Samantha. Being Harvey and Donna here, being unstoppable. 

“At least you’ll be able to go on more afternoon runs,” she shrugs, breaking the moment, letting him off the hook, “And come to yoga with me.” He makes a face because obviously. “You won’t be doing that once you’ve had after-yoga sex,” she lifts a knowing brow. 

He plays along because this is just so them, and he loves it so much, “That’s a thing?”. She nods mock-solemnly, “Oh, it’s definitely a thing.” “Schedule me in for tomorrow then,” he smirks and pulls her in for a kiss.

He doesn’t let it linger, though. There’s something else he needs to do. 

“Hey, I wanna tell you about the envelope,” he says once he pulls away, making it sound casual. He watches as her face unravels and she makes the connection to what he’s talking about. “Right now?” she frowns a little in surprise and rearranges herself when he nods. 

“So, there was a letter,” he begins, and he really thought he’d be more nervous, “She said she was gonna give it to me when we- when we went over for dinner.” His voice falters because it’s still hard, talking about her, thinking of all that could have been. All he lost. But he forges ahead, “But then she changed her mind. She didn’t wanna waste more time. She didn’t want me to waste more time. So she was gonna mail it over but she never got the chance. She said my grandmother wanted me to have it.” He’s looking down as he speaks, bracing himself. 

“She sent you something?” Donna asks brightly. It seems like she has no idea, which is always amusing and always confusing. 

He digs into his pocket and fishes out the ring. 

She’s staring at his face, which is why it takes her a second to look down. When she does, her smile slips and her eyes widen. “Is that...” she trails off. 

“My grandmother’s ring. Then my mother’s ring. And if you’ll have me, I’d like it to be yours.” It’s simple and earnest and he thinks this is definitely better than going down on one knee and giving a speech. 

She’s frozen in place, staring down at the piece of jewelry. “Harvey...” she manages to get out. “Yes, Donna,” he’s a little nervous by her lack of an immediate answer, but he knows she’ll say yes. He knows it. 

“You know you don’t have to do this, right?” her eyes pull away from the ring up towards his own. “I’m here. I’m yours.”

Affection blooms in his chest but he’s not that man anymore. He knows what he has and more importantly, he knows how not to lose it. 

“I know,” he reaches out for her hand, “But I don’t just wanna carry that knowledge with me. I wanna be able to see it on your finger. I want everybody to know.” He looks down at their joint hands, then at the ring, “I want everything.”

He can spot it again, the moment she remembers what he’s talking about. She blinks. Looks down. Blinks again, chews on her cheek. Looks out towards the city and takes a steadying breath. Her eyes are wet, he can see it. 

“So, what do you say?” he prods because he actually needs an answer. 

She turns to him with that Donna attitude, though it’s a bit watered down by her gleamy eyes. “What do you think I say, Harvey?” she asks, half-laughing though her know-it-all tone is audibly there, head cocked to the side as if it’s obvious. 

It is, a little, but he still wants her to say it, so he just shrugs. 

“Yes. Of course. Obviously, always. Yes,” she punctuates each word, a little smile lodged between her lips at how ridiculous he is. 

It was obvious, and he wasn’t nervous, but somehow the “yes” gets to him. It’s his turn to look down as he tries to recompose, to get his eyes to stop watering. 

“Okay,” he says simply, intimately, around a smile he really can’t tamper down. “Okay?” she grins. “Okay,” he whispers, looks up at her, deep into Donna’s eyes. The woman he’s going to marry. 

Shaking himself out of it, he sniffles and chuckles, “Let’s see if it fits.” She gives him his hand and he holds it, along with the ring, as if in preparation. He takes a breath and is about to slide it on when she yanks her hand away and grabs his face and pulls him in for a kiss. She kisses him hard, sure. 

“Alright,” she fixes her hair and squares her shoulders and gives him back her hand. He’s about to slide the ring on when, “No, wait.” 

She brings him in again, wrapping her fingers in his hair, pulling him close. Her thumb rubs his cheek and she ends it languidly, letting her tongue do one thorough sweep of his. 

“Okay, now I’m ready,” she tries again. “Are you sure? ‘Cause we can always do this some other time,” he quips, making to put the ring away. She looks deeply unamused, “Don’t you freakin’ dare.”

Harvey laughs openly at this, at her and at their engagement. It’s been fifteen years and it never, ever occurred to him that this could ever possibly happen. He’s so lucky. 

He takes her hand one last time, positions the ring and slides it on as they both watch, mystified. “Damn, it’s a little loose,” he notes, a little disappointed. 

“That’s easy to fix,” she retorts, sounding distracted, staring at her finger, “You just loop a silver band around the underside- oh,” she kisses him again and he’d laugh if he weren’t feeling the exact same thing. A mix of “finally” and “how” and “forever” and the enormity of all those concepts. 

He’s had front row seats to the disasters of marriage. And he knows everybody thinks that at first. Maybe he’s being naïve or stupid. But he feels it with every last cell in his body: Donna and him are forever. 

“So you ended up with a rooftop proposal after all, that’s pretty romantic,” he jokes once they part. She narrows her eyes skeptically, “This isn’t a rooftop.”

“It’s the top of a roof,” he argues. She remains unswayed, “It’s a helipoint and a fire escape.” “Yeah, but it’s _our_ helipoint and fire escape,” he reaches for her waist, brings her closer. She shrugs, “Can’t argue with that.”

He grins and hugs her, breathes her in. He lays a kiss on the side of her neck and buries his face in the crook of her shoulder. To think he gets to do this whenever he wants now, so naturally, is still wild to him. And that he’ll be able to do it for the rest of his life is just... 

It’s the biggest cliché and he hates himself for it a little bit, but he genuinely didn’t know it was possible for him to feel the things she makes him feel. He didn’t think being this happy was possible. 

She shifts in his arms and he feels movement behind his back. “You’re staring at the ring, aren’t you?” he questions amusedly, voice muffled against her. “I sure am,” she answers in her no-nonsense tone and yeah, it’s definitely possible to feel it all. 

They stay just like that, hugging, for another moment until he feels it’s time to part. It’s time to go. 

When he says as much, she sighs and takes one last look towards the city. His stomach is getting queasy but at least he’s not leaving alone, and this means everything. 

“Alright, come on,” she steps away and extends her hand, “I’ll help you pack up. And maybe on our way out we can christen your office.” She says it so naturally he almost chokes, erupting into laughter. 

Forever’s not gonna be long enough. 


End file.
